The Canary(2020-01-07). Cyprus gang rape claim teen heading home after judge gives her a 'second chance'.thecanary.co A British teenager found guilty of lying about being gang-raped in Cyprus can return home after a judge said he was giving her a "second chance" and suspended her prison sentence.The 19-year-old woman hugged her family and legal team and left court weeping, with her head in her hands, after she was sentenced for public mischief.The teenager's mother shouted "she's coming home" to supporters outside Famagusta District Court, telling reporters she feels "relieved".Her lawyer Lewis Power QC said she will be returning home later on Tuesday but said her legal team would be challenging her conviction and was prepared t…

Peter Bolton(2020-01-07). The right-wing weaponisation of last year's London Bridge attack needs calling out.thecanary.coIn 2019 the UK was convulsed by a shocking act of violence along London Bridge. On 29 November, two people were killed and another three injured in a stabbing attack committed by a radical Islamist who had previously served prison time for another terrorism offence. Predictably, the usual suspects in the right-wing media cynically used the attack and the background of the perpetrator to push their reactionary agenda. And as the 12 December election day neared, it was also inevitably used as ammunition for attacki…

Howard Lisnoff(2020-01-06). The Government is Torturing Chelsea Manning! Does Anyone Give a Damn?counterpunch.org Chelsea Manning is being tortured for her refusal to testify before a federal grand jury. She already has told a military court as a whistleblower while in the Army about documents pertaining to alleged war crimes that were committed in Iraq and Afghanistan. She has already been tortured and imprisoned for releasing that information once ("Collateral Murder" video, More

Jeffery Robinson(2020-01-06). Tulsa's Troubling Past is Not Far Removed from Its Present.aclu.orgThe Tulsa massacre of 1921 may have become known to many | Americans because of a fictional HBO series, but it actually happened. Is the | probable discovery of heretofore undiscovered mass graves in Tulsa enough to | propel the city to a reckoning — | an unambiguous admission of responsibility for horrific acts and a determined | mind to make right what was wrong? We are about to find out. | In a recent …

Al-Shabaka(2020-01-05). The Growing Gap between Jordan and Israel, After 25 Years of "Peace"imemc.orgby Oraib Rantawi for Al-Shabaka Palestinian Policy Network Several recent incidents underscore the cooling in Jordanian-Israeli relations 25 years after the two signed the Wadi 'Araba peace agreement. Israel's imprisonment without charge of two Jordanian nationals of Palestinian origin during the summer led to Jordan's withdrawal of its ambassador "for consultations" …

Gregory Shupak(2020-01-04). Trump Order Aimed at Palestine Solidarity, Not Antisemitism.fair.org by Gregory Shupak Antisemitism is a very real problem—which Donald Trump is exploiting to advance an anti-Palestinian agenda. | President Donald Trump issued an executive order last month to deny funding to post-secondary schools that violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act by discriminating against Jewish people. The order notes that such bigotry is rooted in antisemitism, and says that it will determine whether discrimination has occurred by using the non-legally binding working definition of antisemiti…

Staff(2020-01-02). Headlines for January 2, 2020.democracynow.orgIranian-Backed Militia Withdraws After Standoff at U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Reports: 9 Civilians Killed in Syrian Government Strike on School in Idlib, Wildfires Rage in Australia; Floods Kill 16 in Indonesia, Tens of Thousands Protest in Hong Kong on New Year's Day, Thousands March in Santiago, Chile, Against Austerity on New Year's Day, French Rail Workers' Strike Now Longest Since 1968, Netanyahu Asks Parliament for Immunity in Corruption Cases, 16 People Killed in Prison Riot in Zacatecas, Mexico, Pope Francis Condemns Violence Against Women in New Year's Day Speech, Scores of New Laws Take Effect Across the…

Staff(2019-12-31). Headlines for December 31, 2019.democracynow.orgProtests Rage Outside U.S. Embassy in Iraq After U.S. Airstrikes Kill 24, Hate Crime Charges Filed Against Suspect in Hanukkah Stabbing in NY, Texas Church Shooter Had Long Criminal History, NYT: Top Officials Failed to Convince Trump to Release Withheld Ukraine Aid, Death Toll from Crackdown on Protests in India Rises to 27, Five Kashmiri Political Leaders Released from Detention, Sudanese Court Sentences 29 to Death for Killing Teacher in Anti-Protest Crackdown, Thousands Flee to the Ocean to Escape Australia Wildfires, Former Nissan Head Flees Japan to Lebanon to Escape Trial on Financial Crimes, New York Sett…

Staff(2019-12-27). "Bedlam": Film Shows How Decades of Healthcare Underfunding Made Jails "De Facto Mental Asylums"democracynow.org Are prisons and jails America's "new asylums"? A new documentary looks at how a disproportionate number of underserved people facing mental health challenges have been swept into the criminal justice system, where they lack adequate treatment. Nearly 15% of men and more than 30% of women in jails have a serious mental illness, such as schizophrenia, major depression or bipolar disorder. For many of them, jail is their first point of entry into mental health treatment. The documentary "Bedlam" was filmed over five years in Los Angeles County's overwhelmed and vastly under-resourced Emergency Psychiatry Services, a…

Nicole Zayas Fortier(2019-12-24). Across the Country Harsh Sentencing Laws are Tearing Apart Families and Communities.aclu.orgDuring the holiday season, in the picturesque town of Petoskey, Michigan, Kimiko Uyeda, and her son Marshall celebrate with an annual tradition of selecting a new ornament to add to their tree. Year after year, Kimiko and Marshall add to their collection of ornaments as a part of their tradition. | For years, however, they were separated from one another and unable to enjoy this holiday tradition together. It all began in 2013 when Kimiko was arrested for filing what the local sheriff believed to be a false police report. Because of broken sentencing laws, the prosecutor in the case was able to add four additi…

Kanya Bennett(2019-12-20). A Fair Chance at Opportunity: The U.S. Government Bans the Box.aclu.orgWhen Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) reintroduced the Fair Chance Act earlier this year, he | said: "This bill would give individuals who are reentering society from prison | a fair chance at truly achieving the American dream." The Fair Chance Act would | ban the box that employers use to ask about arrest and conviction history on | job applications. It also requires that federal agencies and contr…

Leila Rafei(2019-12-20). Four Lawyers. Four Projects. One Non-Stop Year.aclu.org It isn't news that the Trump administration has kept ACLU attorneys working at breakneck speed for the past three years. In 2019 alone, we saw historic moments and victories—from defeating the citizenship question on the 2020 census and bringing the first trans civil rights case to the Supreme Court, to blocking a wave of abortion bans and many of the administration's attempts to dismantle the asylum system. To name a few. | Here are some of our attorneys' takes on 2019 and the year ahead—what's changed for the better and for the worse, and how the outcome of the 2020 presidential election will a…

Melissa Grant(2019-12-18). A Tennessee City Banned Surgical Abortion Within the City Limits. We're Taking Them to Court.aclu.orgFor 30 years, I have | worked in reproductive health care. In my current role as Chief Operating | Officer of carafem, a nonprofit with a national network of health centers, I | know the difference compassionate and comprehensive reproductive health care | makes in the lives of our clients. I have witnessed the personal impact when | people who have the legal right to have a child or to have an abortion are denied | those rights due to outrageous societal barriers. Abortion providers are used | to opposition, but we've never experienced the kind of explicit targeting we | received from politicians in the city…

Activist Faces Jail for Resisting Massachusetts Sheriff's Collaboration With ICE
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-01-07
For 30-year-old Sherrie Andre, who has family and close friends that are undocumented, the politics of immigration hits close to home. | "I have a Southeast Asian identity and a mixed status family and Southeast Asian people are being deported at a pretty rapid rate right now," said Andre, a co-founder of the FANG Collective, an organization that has been working to raise public awareness of th…truthout.org/articles/activist-faces-jail-for-resisting-massachusetts-sheriffs-collaboration-with-ice/

Iranian-Americans detained at US-Canada border in wake of Suleimani assassinationwsws.org | 2020-01-07
More than 60 US citizens were held at a border crossing in Washington state Saturday, subject to illegal detention and interrogation before being allowed to return to their own country.www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/01/07/bord-j07.html

Settlement reached in lawsuit against Detroit killer cops in Damon Grimes casewsws.org | 2020-01-07
The family of Damon Grimes, a Detroit teen who died in an ATV crash after police tasered him from a moving vehicle, received a $12 million settlement.www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/01/07/grim-j07.html

Settlement reached in lawsuit against Detroit killer cops in Damon Grimes casewsws.org | 2020-01-07
The family of Damon Grimes, a Detroit teen who died in an ATV crash after police tasered him from a moving vehicle, received a $12 million settlement.www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/01/07/grim-j07.html

Cyprus gang rape claim teen heading home after judge gives her a 'second chance'
The Canary | thecanary.co | 2020-01-07
A British teenager found guilty of lying about being gang-raped in Cyprus can return home after a judge said he was giving her a "second chance" and suspended her prison sentence.The 19-year-old woman hugged her family and legal team and left court weeping, with her head in her hands, after she was sentenced for public mischief.The teenager's mother shouted "she's coming home" to supporters outside Famagusta District Court, telling reporters she feels "relieved".Her lawyer Lewis Power QC said she will be returning home later on Tuesday but said her legal team would be challenging her conviction and was prepared t…
thecanary.co/global/world-news/2020/01/07/cyprus-gang-rape-claim-teen-heading-home-after-judge-gives-her-a-second-chance/

The right-wing weaponisation of last year's London Bridge attack needs calling out
Peter Bolton | thecanary.co | 2020-01-07
In 2019 the UK was convulsed by a shocking act of violence along London Bridge. On 29 November, two people were killed and another three injured in a stabbing attack committed by a radical Islamist who had previously served prison time for another terrorism offence. Predictably, the usual suspects in the right-wing media cynically used the attack and the background of the perpetrator to push their reactionary agenda. And as the 12 December election day neared, it was also inevitably used as ammunition for attacki…
thecanary.co/opinion/2020/01/07/the-right-wing-weaponisation-of-last-years-london-bridge-attack-needs-calling-out/

The Government is Torturing Chelsea Manning! Does Anyone Give a Damn?
Howard Lisnoff | counterpunch.org | 2020-01-06
Chelsea Manning is being tortured for her refusal to testify before a federal grand jury. She already has told a military court as a whistleblower while in the Army about documents pertaining to alleged war crimes that were committed in Iraq and Afghanistan. She has already been tortured and imprisoned for releasing that information once ("Collateral Murder" video,…counterpunch.org/2020/01/06/the-government-is-torturing-chelsea-manning-does-anyone-give-a-damn/

Venezuelan Government and Opposition Fraction Announce Release of 14 'Political Prisoners'
Paul Dobson | venezuelanalysis.com | 2020-01-06
The National Roundtable for Peaceful Dialogue also offered its backing to the new National Assembly president, Luis Parra.venezuelanalysis.com/news/14757

The Growing Gap between Jordan and Israel, After 25 Years of "Peace"
Al-Shabaka | imemc.org | 2020-01-05
by Oraib Rantawi for Al-Shabaka Palestinian Policy Network Several recent incidents underscore the cooling in Jordanian-Israeli relations 25 years after the two signed the Wadi 'Araba peace agreement. Israel's imprisonment without charge of two Jordanian nationals of Palestinian origin during the summer led to Jordan's withdrawal of its ambassador "for consultations" …imemc.org/article/the-growing-gap-between-jordan-and-israel-after-25-years-of-peace/

Trump Order Aimed at Palestine Solidarity, Not Antisemitism
Gregory Shupak | fair.org | 2020-01-04
Antisemitism is a very real problem–which Donald Trump is exploiting to advance an anti-Palestinian agenda. | President Donald Trump issued an executive order last month to deny funding to post-secondary schools that violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act by discriminating against Jewish people. The order notes that such bigotry is rooted in antisemitism, and says that it will determine whether discrimination has occurred by using the non-legally binding working definition of antisemitism adopted by the…fair.org/home/trump-order-aimed-at-palestine-solidarity-not-antisemitism/

Trump Order Aimed at Palestine Solidarity, Not Antisemitism
Gregory Shupak | fair.org | 2020-01-04
by Gregory Shupak Antisemitism is a very real problem–which Donald Trump is exploiting to advance an anti-Palestinian agenda. | President Donald Trump issued an executive order last month to deny funding to post-secondary schools that violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act by discriminating against Jewish people. The order notes that such bigotry is rooted in antisemitism, and says that it will determine whether discrimination has occurred by using the non-legally binding working definition of antisemiti…fair.org/home/trump-order-aimed-at-palestine-solidarity-not-antisemitism/

Headlines for December 31, 2019
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-12-31
Protests Rage Outside U.S. Embassy in Iraq After U.S. Airstrikes Kill 24, Hate Crime Charges Filed Against Suspect in Hanukkah Stabbing in NY, Texas Church Shooter Had Long Criminal History, NYT: Top Officials Failed to Convince Trump to Release Withheld Ukraine Aid, Death Toll from Crackdown on Protests in India Rises to 27, Five Kashmiri Political Leaders Released from Detention, Sudanese Court Sentences 29 to Death for Killing Teacher in Anti-Protest Crackdown, Thousands Flee to the Ocean to Escape Australia Wildfires, Former Nissan Head Flees Japan to Lebanon to Escape Trial on Financial Crimes, New York Sett…www.democracynow.org/2019/12/31/headlines

"Bedlam": Film Shows How Decades of Healthcare Underfunding Made Jails "De Facto Mental Asylums"
Staff | democracynow.org | 2019-12-27
Are prisons and jails America's "new asylums"? A new documentary looks at how a disproportionate number of underserved people facing mental health challenges have been swept into the criminal justice system, where they lack adequate treatment. Nearly 15% of men and more than 30% of women in jails have a serious mental illness, such as schizophrenia, major depression or bipolar disorder. For many of them, jail is their first point of entry into mental health treatment. The documentary "Bedlam" was filmed over five years in Los Angeles County's overwhelmed and vastly under-resourced Emergency Psychiatry Services, a…www.democracynow.org/2019/12/27/bedlam_documentary_mental_health_criminal_justice

Across the Country Harsh Sentencing Laws are Tearing Apart Families and Communities
Nicole Zayas Fortier | aclu.org | 2019-12-24
During the holiday season, in the picturesque town of Petoskey, Michigan, Kimiko Uyeda, and her son Marshall celebrate with an annual tradition of selecting a new ornament to add to their tree. Year after year, Kimiko and Marshall add to their collection of ornaments as a part of their tradition. | For years, however, they were separated from one another and unable to enjoy this holiday tradition together. It all began in 2013 when Kimiko was arrested for filing what the local sheriff believed to be a false police report. Because of broken sentencing laws, the prosecutor in the case was able to add four additi…aclu.org/news/smart-justice/across-the-country-harsh-sentencing-laws-are-tearing-apart-families-and-communities

Four Lawyers. Four Projects. One Non-Stop Year
Leila Rafei | aclu.org | 2019-12-20
It isn't news that the Trump administration has kept ACLU attorneys working at breakneck speed for the past three years. In 2019 alone, we saw historic moments and victories–from defeating the citizenship question on the 2020 census and bringing the first trans civil rights case to the Supreme Court, to blocking a wave of abortion bans and many of the administration's attempts to dismantle the asylum system. To name a few. | Here are some of our attorneys' takes on 2019 and the year ahead–what's changed for the better and for the worse, and how the outcome of the 2020 presidential election will a…aclu.org/news/civil-liberties/four-lawyers-four-projects-one-non-stop-year

A Fair Chance at Opportunity: The U.S. Government Bans the Box
Kanya Bennett | aclu.org | 2019-12-20
When Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) reintroduced the Fair Chance Act earlier this year, he | said: "This bill would give individuals who are reentering society from prison | a fair chance at truly achieving the American dream." The Fair Chance Act would | ban the box that employers use to ask about arrest and conviction history on | job applications. It also requires that federal agencies and contr…aclu.org/news/smart-justice/a-fair-chance-at-opportunity-the-u-s-government-bans-the-box

A Secret CBP Team is Targeting and Detaining Innocent Travelers. We're Suing
Tarek Ismail | aclu.org | 2019-12-18
U.S. Customs and Border Protection is deploying secret teams that target, detain, and interrogate innocent travelers. We're suing to expose their activities. | In November 2018, three CBP officers detained Andreas | Gal, a former chief | technology officer at Mozilla Corporation and current Apple employee, at San | Francisco International Airport after he landed from a business trip to Sweden. | Andr…aclu.org/news/immigrants-rights/a-secret-cbp-team-is-targeting-and-detaining-innocent-travelers-were-suing

A Tennessee City Banned Surgical Abortion Within the City Limits. We're Taking Them to Court
Melissa Grant | aclu.org | 2019-12-18
For 30 years, I have | worked in reproductive health care. In my current role as Chief Operating | Officer of carafem, a nonprofit with a national network of health centers, I | know the difference compassionate and comprehensive reproductive health care | makes in the lives of our clients. I have witnessed the personal impact when | people who have the legal right to have a child or to have an abortion are denied | those rights due to outrageous societal barriers. Abortion providers are used | to opposition, but we've never experienced the kind of explicit targeting we | received from politicians in the city…aclu.org/news/reproductive-freedom/a-tennessee-city-banned-surgical-abortion-within-the-city-limits-were-taking-them-to-court